Rustlers sweep Marwayne in SaskAlta semifinals

The Wainwright Rustlers swept the Marwayne Comets in the SaskAlta Senior Hockey League semifinals, with plenty of help from their postseason scoring leader Chad Marchand.

The Wainwright Rustlers punched their ticket to the SaskAlta Senior Hockey League finals with a 6-3 victory over the Marwayne Comets in Game 4 of the semifinals on Saturday, February 25.

Wainwright headed into the weekend with a 2-0 series lead. Game 3 was held in Wainwright on Friday, February 23, where the Rustlers pulled out a 6-2 win. Goaltender Nolan Goodwin backstopped the Rustlers to the pair of wins to clinch the series, posting 28 saves in each of the two games over the weekend.

Although the Rustlers won each of the four games by at least a two-goal margin, Marwayne made for a formidable opponent and kept each game close until late in regulation.

Head coach Dave Leggett said it was nice to get the sweep, but the series was much closer than a 4-0 series final shows.

“They were all close games and pretty entertaining, and we just pulled away in the end. We didn’t let them mount a comeback. They have a highly-skilled offensive team with great goaltending. But we stuck with our gameplay and didn’t give them as many chances as they’re used to getting,” he said.

“They kept us working to score as well. I thought it was a really good series. You look at it as a sweep, but I thought it was really close. There were times in every game where one play or one bounce and it could go the other way.”

The Rustlers played the series with a fairly healthy lineup, but the additions of Adam Huxley and Brent McMann to the lineup helped with depth and brought some extra veteran experience to the lineup. The two players hadn’t played much throughout the season, but they played an important role in the Rustlers’ semifinal sweep.

“(McMann) is a veteran, skilled, intense player who brings a lot to the dressing room and on the ice. It’s good to have him back. He’s only been on the ice a few times, but he’s still effective… And Adam played a couple games on defence for us this series too. That really helped us having six defensemen. It’s nice to keep pairs and roll them smoothly through the game,” Leggett said.

“Having those veterans step in when we had injuries made it just that much more intense of a series, not just by talking in the dressing room, but by leading by example on the ice. We had a handful of veteran players who have already been doing that, but adding these guys was great too.”

The Rustlers’ next opponent has yet to be determined, with the Elk Point Elks holding a 3-1 series lead over the Hillmond Hitmen. Both teams boast plenty of size and offensive skill, and Leggett said his team will be ready to face either opponent that comes out of the other semifinal series.

“Both teams had good records. Both teams have skill and are more physical maybe than Marwayne. So I think whoever we play, we’ll have to be ready for more physicality,” he said.

Leggett added that the practices leading up to the next series will focus on playing with less time and space and playing more physical themselves. With a good balance of size, speed and skill, he said his team can play with the best and he expects it to be another hard-fought and exciting series.

Elk Point and Hillmond will play Game 5 of their series on Friday with Game 7, if necessary, not scheduled until Wednesday. The extra time off for Wainwright will give the team time to rest and heal heading into the league finals.

“We have a little time off, so that gives everybody a little time to heal up. We’ve got that depth and that veteran presence, so we already know what to do. We’re going to work on some things in practice for playing more physical ourselves,” he said.

“Neither team will give us an easy series. We have to be ready to move against a team that will just be finishing a longer series than us. I expect either team to definitely be ready and pumped to be in the finals.”

Although a second straight league championship is still the first and foremost goal for the Rustlers, winning a Provincial title on home ice later in the month is the ultimate prize. Leggett said he expects his players to bring their best effort in the league finals to build on what has been a long, successful season which will be the next step towards Provincials.

“We want to do well in this series to prepare for the Provincials. The guys know. They know what it took last year. It’s nothing new to us. We just have to talk about it and get it in our heads and be ready for whoever we’re going to play next,” he said.

Regardless of their opponent, the Rustlers will open their SaskAlta finals series at home on Friday, March 10.